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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22778635">Life's Greatest Joys</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/past_memories/pseuds/past_memories'>past_memories</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Unplanned Pregnancy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 15:28:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,045</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22778635</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/past_memories/pseuds/past_memories</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben would have found it a problem that he was still at Poe’s bar by closing time for the third time that week but he was pretty sure he was a functioning alcoholic at this point. It had started when he was hired at First Order Industries two years ago and sold his soul for a higher salary; being a freelance writer had hardly paid the bills. But being miserable all the time and getting bullied by your boss was hardly a better alternative. Thankfully his college roommate had a bar near Ben’s apartment and nothing helped drown sorrow like alcohol. That and having a massive crush on a bartender.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. In the Beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello again! Just some quick notes before we get started: there are mentions of both alcoholism and rehab in this chapter and throughout this story. I never go into great detail about it, nor do I linger on it, but I wanted you to know. Thank you to everyone who read, kudos, and commented on my last two stories. It meant a lot. Once again, I and Grammarly are the only two proof-reading this so please excuse any errors. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ben would have found it a problem that he was still at Poe’s bar by closing time for the third time that week but he was pretty sure he was a functioning alcoholic at this point. It had started when he was hired at First Order Industries two years ago and sold his soul for a higher salary; being a freelance writer had hardly paid the bills. But being miserable all the time and getting bullied by your boss was hardly a better alternative. Thankfully his college roommate had a bar near Ben’s apartment and nothing helped drown sorrow like alcohol. That and having a massive crush on a bartender.</p>
<p>“I brought you one more, just cause you’re my favorite customer,” Rey said, handing him another glass of whiskey and a blinding smile. Ben had been obsessed with Rey since he had started coming to this bar. She was wiry and was never afraid to yell at the patrons. He had seen her almost jump over the bar when some douchebag had said something sexist. She always smiled at him when he bought his drink, but he wasn’t sure if it was because she liked him or if it was because he always tipped.</p>
<p>“I believe you’re trying to get me drunk!” Ben smiled, taking the glass from her hand and brushing his fingers against her’s in the process. He felt his face heat up and turned away so she wouldn’t see his eyes.</p>
<p>“Oh, come on! We both know you’re already easy.” Rey teased, before grimacing. “I’m so sorry, I should not have-”</p>
<p>Ben just waved her off, chuckling. “No, that was a good joke”</p>
<p>Ben continued to nurse the rest of his whiskey, peaking looks at Rey while she finished cleaning up. She waved the other bartenders out, saying she would finish up and Ben watched as three people he didn’t know left. He did his best not to stare at her ass as she bent over to wipe the tables down, but his intoxicated brain refused to give him that option. He knew he was ogling her and he found that she did too when she looked up and smirked at him.</p>
<p>“You wanna get out of here?” Rey said, coming up beside him. “Especially since the bar is closed.”</p>
<p>“I’d be honored,” Ben said, putting his jacket on. He watched as Rey went back to the office, presumably to give Poe the money they had made that night. That’s when he felt his pocket ring. He pulled his phone out to find that his mother was calling him. Knowing that hanging up would hardly deter her, Ben answered the phone.</p>
<p>“Ben, honey, are you okay?” he heard his mother’s worried voice on the end of the line.</p>
<p>“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Ben replied.</p>
<p>“Chewie showed me how to find my friends on my phone and I see that you’re in a bar,” Leia replied, and Ben violently rolled his eyes. He cursed his pseudo-uncle for ever telling his mother anything about technology. “You know, your grandfather was an alcoholic and I don’t want you to go down the same path that he did.”</p>
<p>“Mom I’m not an-”</p>
<p>“This is your third time in a bar in the past week and I can’t remember the last time I saw you without a drink in your hand.” Leia interrupted. “So don’t give me that bullshit.”</p>
<p>“Mom, I can’t talk about this right now,” Ben said as he saw Rey come out of the office. He watched her head tilt in confusion, an act that he found incredibly enduring, and mouthed ‘Mom’ in response to her unasked question. “Can I talk to you tomorrow?”</p>
<p>Before Leia could fully respond, Ben hung up on her and mentally promised himself that he would go over to his parents’ house tomorrow.</p>
<p> “Ready to go?” he asked Rey as she came up beside him.</p>
<p>She gave him and dazzling smile and a nod as she took his hand. “You wanna come over to mine? I want to hang out with you.”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Waking up in someone else’s bed was not a situation that Ben was used to. He had never had a very crazy or active sex life, certainly not one that involved sleeping over. Rey’s room was full of bright colors and little oddities. She had a medium size bookcase that was practically overflowing with books hanging off the edges. He could seem some books stacked on the small desk that was in the corner and a laptop charging there. He looked down to see that her comforter was bright yellow and he felt a small giggle escape. ‘Of course, she does’ he smiled to himself. He sat up, planning on doing a little more snooping when Rey walked through the bedroom door, two pop tart packets in her hands.</p>
<p>“I thought I’d give you breakfast in bed!” Rey laughed, handing him one pair and then opening her own, settling by his side.</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m honored!” Ben said, settling against the headboard and taking a bite. They sat there in a comfortable silence as Rey snuggled next to him, just enjoying each other’s presence. Finally, Rey broke the silence.</p>
<p>“Does this mean I can get your phone number? Because I have to be honest, I’ve been trying to get it for months.” Rey smiled up at him, but he could tell this was a bit of a vulnerable moment for her.</p>
<p>“Is this how you get guys numbers?” Ben teased, giving her a kiss on the nose “you fuck them and then ask?”</p>
<p>“No!” Rey laughed. “You’re the first person I’ve ever down that with. But in my defense, I feel I’ve shown great resolve considering I’ve wanted to jump your bones since the first time I saw you.”</p>
<p>“If it makes you feel any better, I would have let you,” Ben said. “I’ve had a massive crush on you since I saw you.”</p>
<p>“Well look at us now,” Rey said, leaning over to give Ben a kiss. “Look how far we’ve come.”</p>
<p>Ben would have spent the rest of his life there in Rey’s apartment if the universe had allowed it. Unfortunately for him, he left two hours (and two more orgasms) later, content for the first time in a while. This was the first day he had entered into where he didn’t feel like he needed a drink. The sun didn’t feel too bright, the world didn’t seem too compressed. He felt genuinely happy. So happy that he almost forgot about the conversation he had last night with his mother. Almost. Nothing could distract him from his mother’s voice nagging him in his head, not even the knowledge that he had Rey’s phone number. So instead of going back to his own apartment and basking in a glow of happiness and love, he turned down his parent’s street praying that whatever this was, it would end soon.</p>
<p>“What the fuck?” Ben whispered to himself as he pulled up to his parents’ house to find three other cars in the driveway, none of which were his parents’ cars. He cautiously parked across the street, and made his way to the door, filling with more and more dread the closer he got. It wasn’t anywhere near his birthday, so he knew whatever was happening was not going to be good. He heard a lot of voices behind the door that all went silent the second he knocked. He heard the familiar steps of his mother as she came to the door and opened it. The first thing Ben noticed was that she looked nervous. The second thing was that almost everyone he knew was crammed into his parents’ living room. Chewie and Lando were each seated on the chairs by the couch while Maz was placed on a kitchen chair in front of the TV. His Uncle Luke was standing off to the side, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. But the deepest cut was looking over to find that Poe Dameron, owner of his favorite bar and previous college roommate, was sitting on the couch next to Ben’s father.</p>
<p>“What the fuck is going on?”</p>
<p>“Sit down, kid” Han said from the couch. “This is an intervention.”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Ninety days was a long time. It was worth it, Ben reflected as he left the white gates of the rehabilitation center feeling better than he had in decades, but it was long. It had been hard, not having a connection to the outside world for so long, being forced to turn his phone in to the nurses and doctors who ran the center. His one regret was that he hadn’t been able to tell Rey much before having his phone taken away. He had texted her stating that he was in a rehab center, but had never really gotten to see her response. But there were several things he was sure of as he caught sight of his father’s red pickup truck: he would never work for First Order Industries again and that some of the best moments he cherished of his particularly shitty adult life up to this point were spent with Rey.</p>
<p>“Hey there kid!” Han said, jogging up to Ben and pulling him into a warm hug. “It’s good to see you.”</p>
<p>“Hi dad,” Ben replied feeling tears prick the corner of his eyes at his father’s love for him. “It’s good to see you too.”</p>
<p>“How you feeling?” Han pulled away so that he could take a good look at Ben’s face.</p>
<p>“Much better,” Ben smiled as he realized how much he meant it.</p>
<p>“Good!” Han clapped Ben on the back and started to walk back towards the truck. “By the way, I got you a gift.” Hand handed Ben a new phone, sleek and black. “I bribed the nurse twenty bucks to let me have your old one so I could transfer the contacts and apps and all that. Figured it might be nice to get rid of the old one.”</p>
<p>‘The scratches and dents would remind me too much of how often I dropped it when I was drunk’ Ben thought, reading between the lines. But he still appreciated it.</p>
<p>The car ride home was pleasant but quiet; they both had a lot to think about. Ben began making a mental list of things to do the second he got to the house after saying hello to his mother. He’d have to unpack his clothes that he was sure his parents had just thrown into bags when he moved out of his apartment. He had loved the place but he apparently ‘I’m going to rehab’ wasn’t a good enough reason not to charge him rent, so he had to give it up. He didn’t mind too much anyway because he knew it would be easier, at least in the beginning, to live with his parents while he figured out his new-found sobriety. His new phone already had supportive messages from Poe, Lando, and Chewie on it that warmed his heart. It was good for him to see how much he was loved, especially because one of the biggest issues he discussed with his therapist was the isolation he had felt since he was a teen. He took out the folded piece of paper from his pocket that contained the number of his new therapist and quickly put it into his phone, adding a little thumbs-up emoji next to the name. Soon enough they were pulling up the house where Ben had spent his entire childhood. It was then that Ben noticed her father looked very nervous.</p>
<p>“Dad, are you alright?” Ben asked.</p>
<p>“Um yeah…it’s just, well hard to say and-” Han stuttered. Han just shook his head and got out of the car, which Ben took as an indication that he should do the same. Ben cautiously followed behind his father as they came closer to the house, but Han stopped him before he opened the front door. “Ben, before we go inside I have something to warn you about. There’s this girl who’s been living with us and-”</p>
<p>“What?” Ben asked, his brow knitting in confusion. “Do you need the money? I can give you money if you need.”</p>
<p>“No, it’s not that,” his father waved him off “she’s…well she’s-”</p>
<p>Before Han could finish the door was thrown open by Leia who pulled her son into a fierce bear hug. Ben had to lean down to be close to his mother but he cherished the comforting smell of her perfume. She held her hand on the back of his head like she used to when he was young and he felt like a child again.</p>
<p>“It’s so good to have you back!” Leia said, the tears flowing freely from her eyes.</p>
<p>Ben was about to respond when a clatter came from the kitchen. “Leia, I dropped the spoon again and I don’t think I can pick it up.”</p>
<p>Around the corner came Rey, his Rey, the only girl he had seriously thought about spending the rest of his life with. She was almost exactly as he remembered, her shiny chestnut hair in those silly three buns she always insisted on. Her perfect lips rose into a smile when she saw him, something that usually would make his heart flutter. But this time he was more preoccupied with the bulging of her pregnant stomach that was only kind of being hidden by her hoodie.</p>
<p>“What the fuck?” Ben whispered, dropping his bag.</p>
<p>“You didn’t tell him?!” Leia smacked Han on the arm. “You had one job!”</p>
<p>“I panicked okay?”</p>
<p>“What the fuck is going on?” Ben asked quietly. His therapist had taught him breathing techniques but it was hard to stay calm in all of the confusion.</p>
<p>“Honey,” Leia said, gently taking his arm, causing Ben to look at her. “Rey came to us months ago when she couldn’t get a hold of you.”</p>
<p>“You think this baby is mine?!” Ben yelled, yanking his arm out of his mother’s grasp.</p>
<p>“Ben, the baby is yours.” Leia tried to soothe.</p>
<p>“What proof do you have? How do we even know it’s my kid?!” Ben asked wildly. He could feel his composure beginning to crumble as he got more and more hysterical. “How do we know she hasn’t been whoring around and is trying to pass this baby off?!”</p>
<p>“Benjamin Solo!” Leia yelled. “How dare you</p>
<p>“I can’t-I can’t do this,” Ben felt his heart rate pick up as it became harder to breathe. He knew he must have slid down the wall when he suddenly found himself sitting on the ground. His chest was so tight it felt like he was going to be squeezed in two and he put one hand there, trying to give himself comfort. And then the tears came, quickly down his face as he broke into sobs.</p>
<p>“I can’t deal with this right now,” He began rocking himself back and forth, anything to make him feel better, anything to make this whole situation go away. “I just can’t. I can’t”</p>
<p>“Ben, honey,” Leia kneeled down taking Ben in her arms and Han soon joined. Ben was reminded of the times as a child he had broken down like this. It felt so good to be held.</p>
<p>“How long have you known?” Ben sobbed into Leia’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“I’m about three months along,” Rey said quietly, still standing off to the side awkwardly. “And I am so sorry.” Ben looked up to find tears silently falling down Rey’s cheeks that she quickly tried to wipe off.  </p>
<p>“We’re all in this together, kid.” Han said gently, kneeling down on the other side of Leia. “We’ll figure it out together.”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Ben had slept intermittently in his old bedroom that night, but he had heard the hushed tones of his mother and father discussing him far into the night. Ben had gone to bed without dinner, too overwhelmed to do anything else. He had found a plate outside his room after the eating had finished, however, and he was left to wonder whether that had been the work of his parents or Rey. At the thought of Rey, Ben groaned and hid his face in his hands. He’d royally fucked that up. He wouldn’t be surprised if she hated him now. Ben thought about laying there in self piety for the rest of his life, but his stomach had other plans. He finally made his way down to the kitchen after a particularly loud growl, grabbing a bowl and some cereal. He was going to make his way to the living room, but he found it was already occupied.</p>
<p> “We did a paternity test. It’s your kid.” Ben hated how calmly Rey sat there on the couch but he mostly hated that she refused to turn and look at him. There was a half-eaten breakfast sandwich sitting far from her on the coffee table, Ben noticed, guessing correctly that nausea had set in.</p>
<p>“‘Kid’? You don’t know the gender?” Ben took a step closer to her, hoping she’d turn towards him.</p>
<p>“I’m not far enough along,” Rey explained. “And I wanted to wait until you got back to find out.”</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>Rey finally turned to Ben, tears in her eyes. “Because I didn’t want to do it alone,” Rey said her voice breaking. “I know you don’t want this kid, and I don’t blame you or ask you for anything. But I just wanted to save this for you, in case you wanted to find out together.” Rey used her sweater sleeve to wipe the tears and snot off of her face. “It’s silly.”</p>
<p>“It’s not silly,” Ben said, quietly.</p>
<p>“We wanted to tell you, but the therapist said you needed to hear it from one of us and you wouldn’t answer the calls. I still think it’s dumb as shit that they wouldn’t just tell you. This feels like pretty extraneous circumstances.” Rey said, gesturing to her stomach.</p>
<p>Ben and Rey sat there, just looking at each other in awkward silence. Rey was the first to break a watery smile which caused Ben to smile too. Before either knew what was happening they were both in a fit of giggles.</p>
<p>“Stop making me laugh or I’ll pee myself!” Rey said, which caused Ben to laugh even harder.</p>
<p>“We are in so much trouble!” Ben laughed.</p>
<p>“I’m a pregnant bartender and you’re a recovering alcoholic. We’re royally fucked!”</p>
<p>“You still work as the bar?!” Ben said, wiping tears from his eyes and going to sit next to Rey.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I need the money! I’m going back to school to get my engineering degree. Besides, Poe thinks it’s nice to have someone who won’t drink the merchandise.”</p>
<p>“At least my parents will never kick us out,” Ben smiled taking Rey’s hand. “Speaking of my parents, when is your next doctor’s appointment? I want to be there.”</p>
<p>The smile Rey gave him was something Ben would never forget.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Being a recovering alcoholic, Ben found out, was rather boring. He didn’t feel ready to get another job, even if it was part-time. But that meant that most of his time throughout the day was unaccounted for. He would go grocery shopping for his parents, see his therapist, even go out for a drive just to get his mind off of the deep-seated boredom he felt whenever he was at home alone. He thought of offering his help to Poe but decided it was best not to work at a bar, even if it was just helping to count the money at the end of the day. So, when his father mentioned one day that he was finding it hard to pick Rey up from work whenever she was called in, Ben jumped at the chance to get out of the house. Leia was reluctant at first, seeing as Rey worked at a bar, the same bar Ben loved to populate at odd hours of the night in the past, but soon gave in after a gruff “Let the kid be,” from Han. Ben made sure to give his mother a quick kiss before he left to make sure she knew how much it meant that she worried after him. He whispered a quick thanks to Han as he was handed the keys and was soon out the door and in the old red pickup. The road was thankfully not crowded as he expected and he was curbside at Poe’s bar in no time. Soon enough, Rey waddled out the front door and greeted him with a surprised wave. Her coat wasn’t fitting as it used to and Rey had to leave it open at the front nowadays.</p>
<p>“What are you doing here?” Rey asked as she came up to the side of the car.</p>
<p>“Got bored at the house, figured I’d be useful.” Ben shrugged, as he opened the door for her. He thought for a quick moment about getting out to help her into the car but she slides in before he could do anything. She settled into the seat, stretching her ankles to try and relieve the pain in her feet.</p>
<p>“Ugh, I can’t keep doing this,” Rey said as Ben pulled out of the parking spot and back onto the road. “I’m so glad Poe is going to hire someone to replace me, seeing as I’m currently throwing up at least every hour.” Rey laughed. “Which means I need to find something else to occupy my time.”</p>
<p>“What will you do?”</p>
<p>“I was thinking of going back to school actually,” Rey said sheepishly. “I dropped out of college my junior year for money reasons and I’d like to go back and get my degree. I’ve been looking around and The Naboo Institute of Science and Technology has a pretty good mechanical engineering program, though I’m not sure I could get in.”</p>
<p>“Are you kidding me right now?” Ben laughed. Rey gave him a quizzical look, not sure what he found so funny. “Do you know who my uncle is?”</p>
<p>“Why the fuck would I know who your uncle is?”</p>
<p>“He’s Luke Skywalker. He teaches at Naboo and-”</p>
<p>“Luke Skywalker?!” Ben jumped in his seat at Rey’s yell and almost crashed the car. Thankfully he righted the car and Rey continued. “He’s the one who found the huge flaw in the original Death Star machinery plans and fixed it! And now Death Star is a huge technology conglomerate thanks to him!”</p>
<p>“I’m aware of who my uncle is, but thank you for the information,” Ben laughed. “You can speak to him if you want. My mom can text him when we get home, see if he has any advice to help you get in. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to.”</p>
<p>“I would adore that!”</p>
<p>Not two weeks later Rey found herself sitting opposite the illustrious Luke Skywalker who had offered to look over her transcripts and see if they could squeeze her into any classes. Luke was not at all what Rey expected, though the childhood vision of some superhero saving a company was doomed to break under the pressures of reality. He was obviously older now, with gray hair peppered throughout his head and his beard, more prone to wearing old sweaters. But Rey was glad to see that he still looked kind; it eased her nerves a bit.</p>
<p>“It says here you left after your first semester junior year?”</p>
<p>“Yes, sir. I lost my scholarship and was no longer able to pay for school,” Rey explained. She left out the bit about already working two off-campus jobs to make ends meet even with the scholarship. She didn’t want piety.</p>
<p>“That’s too bad,” Luke tutted, still looking at the pierce of paper in front of him. “You were doing very well and it’s quite obvious you’re very intelligent.”</p>
<p>“Well, I-” Rey blushed.</p>
<p>“Don’t try to be modest, my dear, you are smart,” Luke smiled, waving off her protestations. “Here at Naboo, we have an accelerated program that would allow you to take several classes and finish before you…well before-”</p>
<p>“Before I have the baby, I understand.”</p>
<p>Luke smiled at her again, and Rey found herself grateful to feel so comfortable with Luke so quickly. “I have volunteered to be your advisor, naturally. The classes are all week from nine in the morning to about four in the afternoon, depending on labs and all that. Here are my email and phone number. Please let me know if you have any questions or problems.” Luke handed Rey a business card and rose to shake her hand. “Welcome to Naboo University Miss Johnson.”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>The Solo household fell into a simple routine: Leia and Han went off to work, Rey went off to her classes, and Ben stayed at home. He had thankfully happened upon a website that would pay him a nice fee for some editing and bits of freelance writing. It wasn’t a lot but it was enough for a man who was currently living with his wealthy parents. There were times at night where he would get worried and wish he had more to give to Rey. But his therapist always reminded him that he needed to take care of himself first. Besides, Rey seemed perfectly content with his imperfect self.</p>
<p>Rey, on the other hand, was thrilled to be taking classes again, though she did find it odd that she was being taught by Ben’s uncle. Luke Skywalker was well known in the academic community and it had always confused Rey that he had chosen a small public college to teach at, but that was before she was aware that he had any other family. He had always seemed like a bit of a hermit. Rey’s passion for engineering thankfully outweighed the awkwardness of being the girl his nephew had knocked up. And Luke really seemed to like her as a student, which she appreciated. However, being pregnant while going back to school was a bit of an unseen hurdle she didn’t think she was going to have to deal with. It made her feel like she needed to be two different people at once: one who was the would-be engineer, who was going to be a powerful woman in STEM, and the other woman who was so goddamn tired every day because babies have no understanding of normal sleeping hours, a woman so excited and worried at the same time that it felt like she was being split in half. So, coming home two months into the routine to find Ben passed out in a pile of baby books in the living room is not at all what she expected. She gave a small laugh and tried to close the front door a quietly as she could but he still sat up quickly, scattering several books in the process.</p>
<p>“Sorry, I was trying to catch up on the information I missed,” Ben said, rubbing his eyes as he came over to help Rey with her backpack and coat. He had started doing that recently, Rey had noticed; taking care of her in little ways. He’d stashed morning sickness lollipops and teas all around the house, just in case she needed one. He had even driven to the pharmacy at midnight to get her some heartburn medication.</p>
<p>“Don’t apologize,” Rey said, moving some books to sit down on the couch “I’m glad you were reading.”</p>
<p>“Did you know that our baby is currently the size of a head of cauliflower?”</p>
<p>“I did not know that,” Rey laughed. “Did you know that I’ve peed twenty times today?”</p>
<p>“No, I did not know that,” Ben said, smiling. “I would say I didn’t need to know that, but I did ask you to tell me everything.”</p>
<p>Ben began piling the books together until they were in one neat stack and placed them by the stairs.</p>
<p>“For some reading tonight before I go to bed,” Ben explained.</p>
<p>“Oh, I might need one of those too. It might help me go to sleep.”</p>
<p>“Once my mom gets home, we can make a run to Target if you want,” Ben said. “We could get you a body pillow or something to help you sleep.”</p>
<p>“That would be really nice,” Rey said. “Also, another fun fact I just remember, did you know that babies can hear music in utero?”</p>
<p>“The baby can HEAR me?!” Ben yelled.</p>
<p>“Yes, especially if you keep yelling like that!” Rey laughed.</p>
<p>“Holy shit!” Ben said, quickly shuffling over towards Rey. She giggled a little at him because he looked a bit like a graceful slinky, but her giggle stuck in her throat when Ben came right up to her belly. He looked up at her, silently asking her permission. She gave a nod and Ben gently put his hands on either side of her stomach.</p>
<p>“This is your dad, little baby,” Ben said, all focus on her stomach. “I’m your father. Baby, I am your father.”</p>
<p>They both did each other the courtesy of ignoring the tears in each other’s eyes.</p>
<p>“Do you need any maternity clothes or anything?” Ben asked, all of his focus still on Rey’s stomach. “I got paid today so it can be my treat.”</p>
<p>“I can’t let you do that,” Rey tried to protest but Ben just scowled up at her.</p>
<p>“Rey, I literally knocked you up and then disappeared to rehab for the first trimester. The least I can do is buy you some goddamn clothes.</p>
<p>“Don’t swear in front of the baby!” Rey teased, gently combing Ben’s hair from his face. Ben gave her stomach a soft kiss and began making his way to the kitchen.</p>
<p>“I’ll make you dinner while we wait for my parents to get home.”</p>
<p>Half an hour later Ben and Rey were on their way to Target. Rey wanted to laugh when she noticed that Ben was consistently driving under the speed limit, but she had to admit it was pretty cute. Rey spent the ride studying Ben. While he looked as tired as ever, rehab had taken a weight off of his shoulders. Which seemed ironic considering that he had come home to an imminent child, but Rey did think he looked more relaxed, lighter even. The way the street lights hit his face mesmerized Rey, basking it in a faint orange glow before fading and starting all over again.</p>
<p>“Why are you looking at me?” Ben asked quietly, not taking his eyes off the road.</p>
<p>“I’m trying to figure out what the baby might look like,” Rey said, trying to cover.</p>
<p>“Well as long as the baby doesn’t get my ears, it’ll be fine,” Ben grumbled.</p>
<p>“No, don’t say that!” Rey laughed. “I love your ears!”</p>
<p>Rey relished the way Ben’s face went red. She wasn’t sure if the flutter in her stomach was from the baby or from Ben’s small smile.</p>
<p>Once they walked through the door, Rey and Ben agreed to spit up to make the shopping trip go as quickly as possible. They both didn’t want to run into anyone and have to explain why they had so many baby items in their cart. Ben spent way too much time staring at anti-morning sickness remedies, trying to figure out what would work best for Rey. A mother walked past him with her young daughter and pointed out a container of ginger lollipops, telling Ben it helped her a lot during her own pregnancy. Ben thanked her profusely and was on his way to the baby clothes section after grabbing more prenatal vitamins where he found Rey, holding onto a pair of baby shoes and silently sobbing. Her cart had a body pillow, some maternity clothes, and even a few gender-neutral onesies that Ben would admire later on the car ride back home. Currently, he was more focused on the crying woman in front of him.</p>
<p>“What happened?!” Ben whispered urgently, running to Rey’s side and taking her in his arms to try and comfort her. Through the material of his jacket that Rey had smushed her face into he heard something that sounded like ‘Laby fleet are po tall’.</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>Rey moved her head back so she was looking at Ben’s face. Her cheeks were stained with mascara and snot was coming out of her nose. Ben thought she was the most beautiful woman to ever exist.</p>
<p>“Baby feet are so small!” Rey sobbed, pulling herself further into his chest.  </p>
<p>“Is that what this is about? Small feet?”</p>
<p>“I’m so fucking hormonal and I walked past the shoes and they look so tiny and baby have such small feet and our baby isn’t even fully grown yet which means their feet are even smaller and why are babies so little?” At the last word, Rey went back to sobbing into Ben’s jacket, this time wrapping her arms around his abdomen and holding on for dear life.</p>
<p>“Well, I don’t think you’d want the baby to be too much bigger. It does have to exit your body, in what I have been told is a painful process.” This only caused Rey to cry harder. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that!” Ben looked around, trying to see if any sort of inspiration would hit him with a way to comfort Rey. Nothing came, so he gently wrapped his arms around Rey and began gently stroking her hair and whispering “I’m here” over and over again until Rey had regained some of her control. When she pulled back to wipe the tears from her face, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.</p>
<p>“I don’t know why babies have such small feet, but we’ll figure it out together. I’m in this for the long haul, okay?”</p>
<p>“You mean that?” Rey wiped her nose on her sleeve, leaving a dark trail of snot on the jacket.</p>
<p>“With all my heart.” Ben smiled down at her. “You’re not getting rid of me so easily.”</p>
<p>“So you’re not mad at me? For getting pregnant,” Rey asked, rubbing the mascara off of her face.</p>
<p>“No, absolutely not!” Ben replied. “Besides, if we’re trying to place blame somewhere it should be my fault. My sperm is just too powerful.” Ben’s joke was rewarded with a hearty laugh from Rey as she wrapped her arms around Ben again, this time hugging him out of gratitude.</p>
<p>“So you are excited about the baby?” Rey sounded self-conscious it made Ben want to lift her up and kiss her senseless just to show her how excited he was. He did not do this.</p>
<p>“I am, truly” Ben replied, nuzzling the top of her head. “I’ll admit this isn’t how I initially envisioned becoming a dad for the first time, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”</p>
<p>Rey leaned back, taking his face in as tears glistened in her eyes. Before she could lose her resolve she went up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on Ben’s cheek. Ben gasped softly putting one hand over the spot her lips had just left. They stood there for a moment, staring at each other. Ben shook his head slightly, waking himself out of his stupor.</p>
<p>“Come on Baby Mamma,” Ben laughed, taking Rey’s hand. “Let’s get out of here before the store closes.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. All Good Things</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm back! How's quarantine going for everybody? I hope you're all doing well. I'm going to be honest, I ran out of motivation for this chapter about halfway through writing it. But I wanted to finish this before I started something else. Thank you all so much for reading. I love y'all!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two weeks later, Ben and Rey were sitting in the doctor’s office and Ben couldn’t stop his knee from bouncing in anticipation. Rey seemed perfectly calm, having been here before but Ben couldn’t stop staring at the beige walls and the posters for IVF and water birthing. He did not belong here. Sensing his panic, Rey gently took his hand in hers and leaned over to whisper into his ear.</p>
<p>“They can smell fear.”</p>
<p>“That’s not funny,” Ben whispered back but felt himself smiling.</p>
<p>“Rey Johnson” A nurse called from the front. Ben gently helped Rey get up from her seat and followed closely behind her as they went down the hall.</p>
<p>“We’ll take your height and weight first before getting you a gown,” the nurse explained, gesturing to the scale in front of her.</p>
<p>“Close your ears,” Rey said to Ben, kicking her shoes off quickly. Ben made a show of placing his hands over his ears and while Rey rolled her eyes, Ben knew that it amused her. Rey was then ushered over to the height chart and wrote that information down too.</p>
<p>“I didn’t know you were five foot seven,” Ben said, making small talk as he followed Rey to the examination room.</p>
<p>“It’s not my fault you’re a sasquatch,” Rey teased. Ben was ready to reply but was interrupted by the loud girlish scream of a petite Asian woman in a lab coat.</p>
<p>“There’s my favorite patient!” She pulled Rey into a tight hug and Rey laughed, hugging her back.</p>
<p>“I was Dr. Tico’s freshman year roommate in undergrad,” Rey explained to Ben. “We’ve kept in contact over the years so when I found out I was pregnant, she was one of the first people I contacted.”</p>
<p> “And I’m so glad she did!” Rose smiled, reaching behind her to grab a gown for Rey. “Go on in and get changed. I need to have a discussion with Ben really quick.”</p>
<p>Rey gave Rose a weird look but did as she was told. The second the door closed the petite woman rounded on Ben, suddenly very serious.</p>
<p>“I am not speaking right now as a doctor. Rey has been my friend for years and I swear to God if you hurt her I will kill you.”</p>
<p>“Oh um,” Ben flinched back, his back hitting the wall. “I don’t want to-I’m not going to hurt her.”</p>
<p>“She really likes you a lot and I don’t know what is going on in your head, and honestly I don’t really need to know. But she needs you to support her a hundred percent. And if you can’t do that, we need to know now when the band-aid is easier to rip off.”</p>
<p>“I can do that. I can do this,” Ben said with finality.</p>
<p>“Good,” Rose said before she turned back towards the door. After getting the okay from Rey, both Rose and Ben stepped into the room. Rose had a huge smile on her face as she sat down on her rolling stool, coming over to the side of Rey. Ben stood off to the side, not sure of his place.</p>
<p>“How have you been?” Rose asked.</p>
<p>“Pretty good. The morning sickness has almost all gone away, but now that I’m getting a little bigger it’s getting harder to sleep.”</p>
<p>“Have you looked into buying a pregnancy pillow? I’ve had many patients who have found it very helpful.”</p>
<p>“We bought one the other night,” Ben said but regretted it immediately when both women turned to look at him. He felt like he wasn’t meant to answer that question, but thankfully both women turned back towards one another. After that, he stayed silent. They went on speaking about Rey’s progress if she was taking her vitamins and a lot of other things that Ben was sure he had no business having an opinion about. He was not the one who was going to be giving birth. They measure how tall Rey’s stomach was, something called fundal height, and then a technician came in with the ultrasound machine. Rey’s hand instinctually reached out for Ben’s and he gladly took it. After smearing some gel on Rey’s stomach, and after she yelped at how cold it was, a grainy image came onto the screen. It didn’t look like much to Ben but apparently, Dr. Tico and the attendant were able to navigate what it meant. There was an odd sound, which Rose informed him was the baby’s heartbeat. Ben felt his own heartbeat pick up and was feeling overcome with emotion when Dr. Tico asked the life-changing question.</p>
<p>“Are you ready to find out the sex of the baby?”</p>
<p>Rey squeezed Ben’s hand as a blurry image appeared on the screen, though it was still clear even to Ben that it was the baby. “Yes.”</p>
<p>“It’s a boy!” Rose shouted in excitement and Rey’s eyes filled with tears. She looked over to see Ben crying as well. She wrapped her other hand around his and gave it a squeeze. Ben gave her a watery smile before leaning down and kissing their entwined hands. It was one of the most romantic things that anyone had ever done to Rey.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>
  <em>One Month Later</em>
</p>
<p>Leia came home to find Rey sitting on the couch, snoring the house down. The baby had been kicking her lately, and as Rey’s stomach got larger and larger sleep was harder to achieve. Leia gently placed a blanket over the younger woman and wrote a note to Han to make sure he was quiet when he came home from work, before going into the kitchen to find Ben working at the table.</p>
<p>“Looks like the body pillow isn’t working too well,” Leia said taking a seat beside her son.</p>
<p>“Rey says it helps a little but with the baby kicking and the backaches it doesn’t do enough,”</p>
<p>“Have you offered to give her a back rub? Your father used to do that for me when I was pregnant with you,” Leia replied. “Well, actually now that I think about it, your father gave me backrubs before that too. I’m pretty sure you were conceived because of a particularly nice backrub.”</p>
<p>At the sound of the word ‘conceived’, Ben placed his hands over his ears and was quietly humming to try and drown out the sound of his mother’s voice. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, so he would be haunted by the knowledge of his own conception till he died. Before his mother could embarrass him anymore, Rey ripped a particularly loud snore and woke herself up. Ben could hear the small frustrated moan as Rey tried to sit up, which made his heart clench. Rey tried to get up from the couch, but really just ended up rocking forward a little. She gave a frustrated huff and Ben got up to help her when Han walked through the door.</p>
<p>“Hey there kid!” Han smiled as he took his dirty boots off by the door. “I’m glad you’re awake because I had the craziest customer today!”</p>
<p>Rey gave him a grateful smile as Han handed her a pillow and helped to adjust her so that her back felt comfortable before he took a seat across from her. He delved into his story with vigor, practically vibrating with excitement.</p>
<p>“She won’t ask for your help, you know,” Leia said as she began getting leftovers out of the refrigerator.</p>
<p>“She’s stubborn like others I know,” Ben replied, closing his laptop and getting into the cupboard to get the dinner plates.</p>
<p>They both watched as Rey threw her head back in a laugh at Han’s crazy stories.</p>
<p>“Just talk to her,” Leia gave Ben a pointed look as she began heating the food up. “What’s the worst that could happen?”</p>
<p>Ben could think of at least ten things immediately that he classified as the worst, but he had to admit that his mother had a point. Rey was not very likely to abandon him simply because he asked her if she needed a backrub. It didn’t mean that he wasn’t worried about it, but he had to admit that Rey had always been pretty good at putting up with him. She had seen him at some of his worst moments and hadn’t run away then. Leia gave him a small tap on the shoulder, signaling that dinner was ready. Ben gave a mute nod and went to the living room to help Rey off the couch. He knew his father would have helped Rey if he could, but the last thing they needed was Han pulling his back out because he was too stubborn to ask for help. Ben felt his heart leap as Rey roared with laughter at the end of Han’s story. He got lightheaded at the broad smile she gave him when he reached for her hands, but he kept it together enough to help her up. Dinner was uneventful, which Rey was grateful for considering the night before she had almost lost her dinner at the smell of chicken. She finished her homework after dinner and by the time she was done with that, it was time for bed. She put on a ratty pair of shorts and a very large shirt she had bought impulsively at a thrift store after she found out she was pregnant, both of which she had worn every night of her pregnancy. It felt comforting to at least have a few things in her life stayed the same even if she was excited about the change. She walked absentminded towards the bathroom and almost ran into Ben.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” Ben whispered lightly holding her shoulders to steady Rey.</p>
<p>“It’s fine,” Rey yawned, the extent of her exhaustion hitting her. Even the afternoon nap hadn’t done anything to help how tired she felt. “I’m just about to go to sleep.”</p>
<p>“Do you want a backrub?” Ben blurted out. Rey blearily looked up towards Ben, not sure if she had hallucinated the question. Ben’s face grew redder and redder the longer she stared at it, so she was pretty sure the question had been asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah, just let me brush my teeth.”</p>
<p>Ten minutes later, Ben and Rey were both lying in her bed with the body pillow smashed against Rey to support her stomach. Ben was behind her, gently rubbing her lower back to try and alleviate some of the pain. Rey felt herself get more relaxed and was just about to fall asleep when-</p>
<p>“What are we?” Rey wasn’t sure at first if she had really said it aloud, but she felt Ben stiffen behind her. “Co-parents? Partners?” she hesitantly continued.</p>
<p>Ben placed on arm around Rey as the other continued rubbing her back and Rey felt him press his face further into her neck. “We can be whatever you want,” he whispered against her skin. “I just want to make you happy.”</p>
<p>“Why do you think it is that simple?” Rey took his hand in her own and began gently playing with his fingers.</p>
<p>“Because I love you,” Ben gave her a small kiss on the cheek. “It is that simple.”</p>
<p>“You love me?” Rey felt Ben nod. “Did you always love me or do you love me because of the baby?”</p>
<p>“I would have married you the second I met you if you’d let me,” Ben laughed. “Though I love the baby too. But I don’t love you because of the baby or despite the baby. I love you both.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Rey replied. “I love you too.”</p>
<p>They fell asleep entwined together. It was the best night’s sleep Rey had ever gotten.</p>
<p>******</p>
<p>
  <em>One Month Later</em>
</p>
<p>“This is the stupidest thing I have ever done” Ben whispered into Rey’s ear as he sat behind her on the very thin yoga mat. “They’re teaching you how to breathe”</p>
<p>“Shut up” Rey whispered back, elbowing him in the stomach. “It’s for when a contraction hits, you dick.”</p>
<p>“You seemed to like my dick perfectly fine when we got ourselves into this mess” Ben whispered huskily.</p>
<p>Rey turned around, looking fake outraged, but Ben could see how red her face had gone. He gave her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose as the teacher moved on to the next exercise. While Ben wasn’t sure how helpful the class would end up being, he did enjoy spending any moment that he could with Rey. He knew that it helped ease some of Rey’s growing concern about having to actually give birth to the baby. It was good for her to have a group of other women who supported her and it was good for him to get out of the house, no matter how much he hated to admit it.</p>
<p>After the class had ended, Ben and Rey started to walk down the street to the local grocery store to get some food from the home. Now that her morning sickness had ended, Rey was eating them out of proverbial house and home.</p>
<p>Ben intertwined his hand with Rey’s but noticed that she had gone oddly quiet. “You okay?”</p>
<p>“I’m just freaking out because we have so many things to buy and I don’ think a crib is going to fit in your mother’s room,” Rey gave a frustrated sigh.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,” Ben said, rubbing his neck. “I found this nice two-bedroom apartment right down the street from my parents and our old family friend owns it and will rent it to us at a low cost. And with Rebel Industries hiring me as their head editor and my freelance stuff I should have a pretty good salary. If you want…”</p>
<p>“Are you asking me to move in with you?”</p>
<p>“Only if you want to! I just figured it would be more space to ourselves but still close enough to my parents for some help.”</p>
<p>“That seems like a pretty big step. Have we been dating long enough for that?” Rey teased.</p>
<p>“You’re carrying my child. I’d say we’re to that point.” Ben deadpanned. “Besides,” he continued, kicking his feet nervously and avoiding Rey’s eye. “I want to be with you, Rey, for the rest of my life. I’m willing to do whatever you want”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>
  <em>One Month Later</em>
</p>
<p>The text came to him in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon. Ben and Rey had finally gotten settled in their new apartment. There were still many baby items that needed to be put together, but the crib and rocking chair were all ready for the fateful day.</p>
<p>
  <em>Come pick me up, but wait outside for me</em>
</p>
<p>Ben ran to his car and sped to the college faster than he had ever gone anywhere. He got to the door of the lecture hall when he remembered that there was a final taking place and it probably wasn’t the best idea to storm in. Instead, he stood pacing outside the door to the lecture hall as he waited for Rey with excruciating anxiety. He could feel himself building up to a panic attack when the door finally opened and Rey waddled out.</p>
<p>“Oh my God!” Ben immediately rushed to her side, taking her arm “What the fuck is going on?!”</p>
<p>“We need to go to the hospital because my water broke,” Rey grunted.</p>
<p>“When?!”</p>
<p>“Right before the final started,” Rey said just as a contraction hit her. She grabbed Ben’s hand and squeezed it tight while trying to remember the breathing exercises from birthing class.</p>
<p>“Rey!” Ben chastised as he held the door open for her to exit the building. “That was like two hours ago!”</p>
<p>“I needed to finish my final!” Rey snapped. “I’m getting my goddamn education! Besides, it was my last final.”</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you,” Ben said, shaking his head as he carefully helped her into the car. He buckled her in before she had the chance to do it herself and ran to the other side of the car. “You are so lucky we’re only fifteen minutes away from a hospital!”</p>
<p>“You’re not allowed to yell at me, I’m in labor!” Rey yelled, as Ben swiftly reversed and took off down the road.</p>
<p>“What would you have done if you gave birth in the lecture hall in front of my fucking uncle?!”</p>
<p>“Dealt with it like the adult I am!”</p>
<p>Both Rey and Ben broke into frustrated screams as they slowly went through the traffic light. Unfortunately, they were in a residential area and while Ben was willing to speed when it was just him in the car, he was much more cautious with Rey in the car. He was more afraid of dying in a horrible car crash than Rey having their baby in the car. Ben let go of Rey’s hand as they pulled into the hospital parking lot, parking in the first spot he found.</p>
<p>“You could have parked closer!” Rey said as she breathed through another contraction.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry but I didn’t feel like this was the time to be picky about a parking spot!” Ben said as he unbuckled Rey and gently helped her to stand. Rey took his hand, reveling in the one comfort in this situation. She wasn’t sure how they did it but soon enough they were through the sliding glass doors.</p>
<p>“My wife went into labor!” Ben yelled as three nurses rushed towards them and one placed Rey in a wheelchair.</p>
<p>‘Wife?’ Rey mouthed at Ben as they were rushed down the hall.</p>
<p>‘I panicked!’ he mouthed back before a nurse gave him a friendly tap.</p>
<p>“Hurry up Dad, we’re about to have a baby!”</p>
<p>The second they had Rey connected to all the machines, a nurse came in and measure the amount of dilation.</p>
<p>“Oh Mom, you’re already five centimeters!” The nurse gave a big smile. “I’ll call Dr. Tico in to come check on you and we can give you an epidural if you want one”</p>
<p>“YES!” Rey yelled at the nurse as another contraction hit. She scrunched her face up in pain and concentration, huffing her way through it. The nurse gave a quick nod to Ben before leaving the room. The second she was out of the room and he would no longer be in the way, Ben ran over to Rey and took her hand in both of his.</p>
<p>“How are you doing?”</p>
<p>“It fucking hurts!” Rey whined and Ben could see the shine of sweat beginning to form on her forehead.</p>
<p>“I love you,” Ben replied, feeling like that was the only thing he could say in a situation like this. “I love you too,” Rey replied, giving Ben a large smile. They stayed like that for a while, just taking each other in. The anesthesiologist came in soon, handing papers to sign off on the epidural. The hours blended together in a combination of hand-holding and checks from the nurses. Leia and Han showed up at some point in the middle and tried to help calm Rey down, but Ben would never go farther than a few feet from her.</p>
<p>Four hours later and all of a sudden there was a flurry of activity as Dr. Tico determined that Rey was far enough along to start pushing. Stirrups were brought in, Rey’s feet were placed in them as gently as possible, and Ben took his place next to Rey.</p>
<p>“I’m scared,” Rey said, taking Ben’s hand.</p>
<p>“I know,” Ben said as he kissed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “But I will be right next to you this whole time. You can do this.”</p>
<p>“Rey?” Dr. Tico asked from the end of the hospital bed where she was standing between Rey’s legs. “Are we ready?”</p>
<p>Rey gave a tight nod and held on tighter to Ben’s hand.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>A few pushes later, some crying (by every nonmedical professional in the room), a quick check and weigh, and a small bundle was placed quickly into Ben’s arms as the nurse went over to help with the placenta. A small little face looked up at him. Their boy had cried while he had been cleaned off and swaddled, but now that he was in his father’s arms he calmed down. Ben was doing his best to try and keep the stream of tears flowing down his face from falling onto the baby.</p>
<p>“He’s so little,” Ben sniffled, holding the baby closer to his chest.</p>
<p>“I wanna hug him too!” Rey said from the bed sounding exhausted. Ben slowly came over, placing the baby on Rey’s chest. She took one look at the baby and started crying again. She peppered the baby’s head with kisses, doing her best to try and not to wake him up. “He looks like you”</p>
<p>“How can you tell?” Leia asked from the couch, drying her own eyes.  </p>
<p>“He’s got dark hair,” Rey giggled “just like his father.”</p>
<p>“So he does,” Han chuckled coming to the other side of the bed to take a look at his grandson.</p>
<p>After spending a very long time staring at the sleeping baby’s face it was decided that Han and Leia would go grab some lunch before asking the nurse’s when Rey was allowed to eat. The baby hormones were keeping her from being hangry but everyone knew that was liable to wear off eventually. So for the first moment since arriving at the hospital, it was just Ben, Rey, and their son.</p>
<p>“I want to get married,” Ben said, cradling their sleeping boy. He was mesmerized with the small snoozing face wrapped in his arms.</p>
<p>“I just had a baby,” Rey replied, “Can we space out my adult milestones a little bit?” Ben looked up at Rey so seriously to find her gently smiling at him. He smiled back, taking her hand and moving closer to her hospital bed.</p>
<p>“We can wait. I just wanted to let you know one of these days I’m going to get down on one knee and ask you. It would be nice if you said yes.”</p>
<p>“I love you.”</p>
<p>“I love you too.”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>
  <em>Epilogue</em>
</p>
<p>Rey waddled as quickly as she could into the elementary school gym, glad that at least for now she didn’t need to pee. Her husband waved to her from across the room, motioning to the seat beside him. She sat down as quietly as she could, which was easier said than done.</p>
<p>“Did Margret remember her cat ears?” She whispered after giving Ben a quick peck on the lips.</p>
<p>“Yes, and my mom said that Peter did his speech perfectly when they practiced before,” Ben responded</p>
<p>“We have such talented children,” Rey smiled, waving at Han and Leia as they came through the door.</p>
<p>“Speaking of our children, how have the twins been treating you today?” Ben asked, placing his hand on his wife’s large stomach.</p>
<p>“They were very active today,” Rey responded placing her own hand over Ben’s. “I swear they’re doing summersaults.”</p>
<p>The urge to pee hit Rey right then and she got up right as Han and Leia, giving them her excuses.</p>
<p>“She looks ready to pop!” Leia said as she sat on the other side of Ben. “When is she due?”<br/>“The c-section is scheduled for next week,” Ben explained as Han gave him a fatherly pat with the program. Ben wasn’t sure why an elementary school show needed programs, but he had given up arguing it with his mother. Rey, he was glad, was firmly on his side though he knew she was going to keep the garish booklet forever.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure she’ll make it that long,” Leia replied. Before Ben could reply, the lights went down and the children filed out onto the risers. Ben gave a quick little wave to Peter, but the six-year-old was too focused to notice. Thankfully his younger sister did notice and Margret gave a wave that seemed to shake her whole body. Her enthusiasm had always reminded Ben of Rey and it was something that he cherished about both of them. As Peter stepped forward to open the show, Rey scurried back into her seat. Ben noticed that she was frowning and took her hand.</p>
<p>“Your water break in the bathroom?” He leaned in, whispering in her ear.</p>
<p>“Yepp,” Rey replied, squeezing Ben’s hand as a contraction hit.</p>
<p>“You planning on holding the babies in until the show in over?”</p>
<p>“You bet your ass I am,” Rey ground her teeth in concentration, willing her cervix to stay closed.</p>
<p>Ben gave a quiet laugh and kissed the side of Rey’s head as they sat entranced at their children. He had never been happier in his entire life. That is until five hours later when their twins Padame and Anakin were born. Ben would tease Rey for the rest of their lives about how their last two children were almost born in a car.  </p>
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